Saturday, June 28, 2008

An email crossed my desk recently about how Smith & Wesson firearms has just become a new and important member of National Hunting and Fishing Day, slated this year for September 2008.

Buried in that good news, however, was the astounding fact that through licenses and excise taxes, outdoor enthusiasts pony up $100,000 every 30 minutes for fish, wildlife and habitat programs. And that’s been going on for decades.

A quick check with a calculator shows that sportsmen belly-up $4.8 million every day for wildlife; $72 million per month; or just under $2 billion annually.

That’s billion, with a “B”; you know, 1,000 times $1 million.

Big bucks, huge money, all voluntarily spent by hunters and fishermen who initiated excise taxes on their own fishing and hunting gear; and whose licenses pay the freight on everything from studying whooping cranes to tagging Stone's sheep.

Good things to keep in mind next time you run into someone who raises an eyebrow when he learns you hunt; or can’t understand why that 200 Yamaha is on your bass boat.

Without sportsmen and their expensive toys and licenses, rare would be the bird watcher photographing warblers in a wildlife refuge, or a family camping on public land.